Fire services chief hopes water-bombing planes get safety all clear

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says he is hopeful Victoria's fleet of water-bombing Dromader planes can be used this fire season.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has grounded Dromader planes across the country, after one crashed during the New South Wales bushfires, killing its pilot.

Commissioner Lapsley says the CASA investigation is expected to take seven to 10 days and he is hopeful the planes will be allowed to fly.

However, he says his department is also looking at contingency plans in case the planes are out of action this season.

"To have seven of the 17 bombers that potentially are grounded is a worry to us but ... every indication's there that things should be okay and that they should be signed off and be able to come back into the fleet," he said.

"But we are doing contingency work at the moment that if that doesn't happen how do we get some other fixed-wing machines that can drop water and be part of our fleet this summer?

"We would hope to think that after that's been completed [the CASA investigation] all of them will come back online and there's a fair indication that would occur ... until they've been through and made sure all those checks are done they're not prepared to let them fly.

"So grounding them is the right thing to do for safety but we're also working on if they are grounded longer than that, what do we do?"